no cow farm

While driving back and forth last week between my folks' place and our new place we kept talking about what we should name our new 10 acres. We have been calling it "the farm" but knew there was something more clever and perfect for our new home.

It turns out all of the nice tree and Groves combo names have already been taken by suburbs or middle schools: Maple Grove, Oak Groves, Cedar Park...

When we would tell Ivar we needed to get in the car to go to the farm he would get very excited. But then when we got to the farm the first thing he would do is inspect each building and announce, "no cow. no cow."

He thought we were going to Jake and Louie's farm. The one with cows and tractors and Ida and Stella.

He still looks for the cows each morning and night as we take our family walks around our new property. His neck stretches ahead of his body, hopeful that maybe that little red barn has a moo in it. And then he lets us know, "no cow. no cow."

So for now, we're No Cow Farm. A farm that is hopeful to one day have chickens and maybe bees, certainly a huge garden and fruit trees. And perhaps one day a cow. 



we're here! *

*Dear Reader,
You probably have noticed by this point that I have not mentioned a whole lot of details as to where "here" actually is. This is intentional. Knowing that this world wide interweb is pretty awesome, but also aware that I tend to share a lot on this blog anyway, we decided not to be quite as specific as to Where our Here is. Obviously I'll blog about local stuff, and you may get a general idea, but let's just say that I won't be putting up our house address like I did in Minneapolis.

:)

We officially moved our family into our new house on Sunday afternoon. We spent the ten days before that living with my folks, which was a really good decision. It was a great breather between moving out of the old house and moving into the new house. And we used that time to have the bedrooms painted before we moved the stuff in, unpack the kitchen and bathrooms and watch a lot of Olympics.

Now we're living in the midst of boxes.

Newsflash: it is impossible to get much of anything done with a newborn and a one year old. Oh, you knew this? I am learning to let boxes sit in the middle of the room and trying to be okay with it. And I am very grateful for all of the help we've had in moving furniture upstairs, boxes in from the garage and for my mom's help in a much needed trip to Target today.

We are thrilled to be here. Feels like a vacation home so far. We adore this house and the land it is on and keep talking about how the whole move just feels so right. And that is a really good feeling.

buh bye jij. buh bye anon

We left behind some very good friends in Minneapolis. I always felt so well cared for and looked after by our neighbors. On every side we had friends who really loved our little family, loved our little boy and stopped by for frequent "Ivar Visits."

George and Katherine lived behind us across the ally. And we loved them and they loved us right back. When I put Ivar down for naps and bedtime, I'd hold him on my hip as we twisted the blinds closed and Ivar would say, "nigh nigh jij. nigh nigh anon."

And when we pulled out of the garage, Ivar would look at their house, wave and say, "buh bye jij. buh bye anon." Katherine often came over with a ball she found while on a walk, or a toy she found that her kids used to play with. Ivar got some cool trucks this way.

When we came home from the hospital, this sign was taped to our door waiting to greet our new little girl from Katherine. It's hard to put into words how much we are going to miss our neighbors and friends on Girard Avenue.

sleep

Everyone says to sleep when the baby is sleeping. Which is terribly hard.

But to sleep when the Olympics are on? Seemingly impossible.

life lately

Six days after Elsie was born, the four of us moved out of our house so we could take apart the beds and cribs and box up the rest of our life. Our Ford Focus once again acted up on moving day. That car hates to move.

Seven days after Elsie was born we closed on the sale of our house and signed our names 900 times.

Eight days after Elsie was born we made the move with a 24 foot Uhaul packed to the ceiling.

Nine days after Elsie was born we hung the baby swing in the big oak tree in our new front yard, unpacked the kitchen and got the lawn mower charged and ready to ride.

And now we are living between our new house and my parents home, watching the Olympics, napping and getting our boxes unpacked.

It actually has gone quite smoothly. I'm exhausted, but that's sort of to be expected. Elsie is a champ and my parents have been fantastic in holding all the pieces together by holding a baby late at night,  getting up with a little boy at the crack of dawn and keeping this mama well fed. We couldn't do this without them.